Baku, Azerbaijan, April 10
By Emil Ismayilov - Trend:
The Azerbaijan State Oil Company after repair has launched the catalytic reforming and gradual coking units at the Heydar Aliyev refinery, the company reported.
At present, work continues at the refinery on overhaul of the catalytic cracking, which produces high-octane gasoline.
The work on modernization of the unit will allow it to increase its processing capacity up to one million tons (from two to three million tons) and gasoline production by 450000 tons.
Azerbaijan for the first time is confronted with the fact that consumption of gasoline is equal to its production. This is explained by the growing number of cars in the country. Ongoing work on the modernization and reconstruction of large plants at the refinery is necessary to increase the quantitative and qualitative indicators of gasoline.
The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan is the only producer of oil products and has two refineries on its balance sheet. One of them is the Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery that focuses on the production of light petroleum products, and the second is Azneftyag Refinery that produces dark petroleum products. The total capacity of these two refineries is 16 million tons of oil per year.
Both plants were built and commissioned in the Soviet period, and therefore require modernization and renovation. Furthermore, SOCAR plans to build a new complex for oil and gas refining and petrochemical production in order to improve the ecological situation in Baku, as well as to meet growing demand for petroleum products. The complex will be located 60 km away from Baku.
Translated by S.I.
Edited by C.N.